PJs are the new power suit

“In this way, being unemployed is a lot like being depressed. You know how there are millions (O.K., a handful) of things you swear you would do if you only had the time? Now that I had all the time in the world — except for the hours during which I was looking for work — to read, write, watch birds, travel, play minor-key nocturnes, have lunch with friends, train a dog, get a dog, learn to cook, knit a sweater, iron the napkins and even the sheets, I had absolutely no energy for any of it. It made no difference that music and books and nature had long been the mainstays of my spirit. Just thinking about them exhausted me. I had absolutely zero experience in filling weeks — what if it became years? — with activity of my own choosing. Being unemployed meant being unoccupied, literally. I felt hollow.”

This is the best description of being unemployed. You really think, when you're working, that work just gets in the way of all sorts of stuff. "If I had time, I would travel, spend time with my family, meet my friends for lunch, etc." What's funny is I've been doing all of these things, and I still have tons of time on my hands. I suppose AA fills up some of that time, but not enough.

If only I could stop and read more. I have lots of magazines, and I have the time to read them, but I haven't really read in about a month. My eyes are tired, or I'm just tired from not really sleeping.

But that hollow feeling. I'm glad others have it as well. It's a weird feeling to have. I know that I've got so much going for me, and my life is actually pretty full, but I just feel lacking without a job. Jobs really define you as a person whether you like it or not. It makes people uncomfortable when I say I'm unemployed. It's kind of funny. They get quiet and weird, or talk about other people they know who are un- or underemployed. But sympathy doesn't really help. The only thing that will help is getting a job.